How to look for innovation inspiration outside of your industry

Found at http://www.innovationtools.com/Weblog/innovationblog-detail.asp?ArticleID=1457

One of the toughest challenges for any innovation initiative is finding a place to start. Lao Tzu famously observed more than 2,500 years ago that the journey of a thousand miles begins with the all-important single first step. But if you really don’t know where you’re headed, how do you know in what direction to take that initial step?

Innovation is never a single moment of enlightenment but an iterative process of hypothesis and refinement that ultimate results in a breakthrough. I was speaking recently with a colleague who was trying to help a news media client “rethink” their business. But this executive was adamant that they look to current “best practices” and “industry leaders” – within the news industry — for ideas and inspiration.

In much the same way that businesses cannot slash costs to achieve industry leadership, copycatting other (in many cases equally challenged) peer companies won’t lead to breakthrough innovation either. Emulation is a viable technique. However, for it to serve as a useful process for defining a starting place for sustainable innovation one has to look outside of their current industry – and often very far away from that industry.

To be continued at http://www.innovationtools.com/Weblog/innovationblog-detail.asp?ArticleID=1457

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